Estreoth/Arcane Cannon
Arcane Cannons are a type of magical firearm created in Estreoth. Although there has been some influences from conventional firearms from alternate worlds, the majority of arcane cannon development has occurred without outside intervention. Overview Gun powder is an invention that is unknown to Estreoth, despite the thousands of dimensional travelers who have contributed to the technology of Estreoth. Unlike in our world, the desire to turn lead into gold was never prominent. In Estreoth, power and strength were considered better than gold and wealth. Therefore, alchemy, in the chemist sense, never became a prominent science and as such gun powder was never created and the face of warfare, as it was in our world, was never revolutionized by bullet based firearms. That’s not to say cannons and guns were never invented however. But instead of being based upon physics and chemistry, guns are based upon magic. At their most basic form, an arcane cannon is a runic spell that can be activated simply by moving energy into a small trigger glyph. When the glyph has energy interact with it, it causes the spell to cast itself and fire itself down the barrel. At first, this might seem useless in compared to a skilled mage. However, an arcane cannon has no cast time, only a recharge time. Because of this, extremely complex and powerful spells can be fired off extremely fast. Although at their core they may seem simple, to an untrained user an arcane cannon may seem unusable. Since they have no tangible trigger, they cannot be fired without at least a rudimentary knowledge of magic. For even a basic magic user, an arcane cannon is a deadly weapon. In the hands of a skilled user, an arcane cannon can be a highly effective weapon. Large, mounted cannons can devastate entire battlefields. History Pre-Morith Artifacts discovered in ruins throughout the Barafet and Ginryu sea show that people of the Ancient Kingdom had devices similar to Arcane cannons. Some of these were hand held, but the Arcane cannon built into the foundation of Hetrea suggests they were capable of massive destruction. There aren't any functioning examples of ancient Alemnii cannons, but conceptually they appear similar to modern cannons. With the fall of the Ancient Kingdom, the arcane cannon vanished into obscurity. Reinvention Arcane Cannons were invented in 1335 by Ma'n A-Fateen, an enchanter, engineer, and amateur archeologist. Inspired by the drawings in Alemnii ruins, he constructed the first Arcane cannon. His original concept didn't catch on in Anktolia military, so Ma'n traveled to Rune to show the Morithian officials. They took a liking to the idea and hired Ma'n as a royal enchanter. Implementation Ma'n's first models were fragile and unreliable, but subsequent models were far better. Morith was quick to implement the larger cannons on the battlefield. Smaller, hand-held cannons never caught on in Morith. Years later however, Hetrea would implement an entire regiment of arcane infantry. Among adventures however, arcane cannons are quite popular. Types of Arcane Cannons Domkemmin Amarthian for "Blind Cannon", Domkemmin are arcane cannons that do not use capacitance crystals. Instead, they draw from a users own magical energy. Because of this, Domkemmins can be extremely powerful in the hands of a skilled mage. Their firing speed can be fired as quickly as a user desires, and can be charged to create a larger blast. Despite their incredible potential for destruction, Domkemmin's are quite rare and are incredibly difficult to master. Most experienced users will always opt for a custom-made domkemmin's as opposed to the more common variants used by novices. Mechanical Recently, a new type of arcane cannon with tangible triggers have become available. These work by pressing the capacitance crystal against the runes center. Such weapons don't require any magical knowledge, but their inner workings are more mechanically complex and are more likely to fail. However, anyone can use them, even the magically inept. Because of their ease of use, they are extremely popular among rich nobles, who are among the only group to afford the complex and expensive weapon. Compared to other types of hand-held arcane cannons, mechanical types offer no advantage to the experience user. Jaleqar Kirali for "long barrel", Jaleqar's are also called Arcane Rifles. These longer, embossed barrel is far more accurate than a short variant. They also tend to be more powerful due to their larger crystals. Jalevel Kirali for "short barrel". Also called Arcane Pistols. Siege Cannon Siege Cannons are the largest, most devastating type of arcane cannon. They can be absolutely massive emplacements to defend cities, often requiring a hundred men to operate. Most, if not all of these cannons are used as defensive emplacements, as the logistics of even trying to move such a weapon is nearly impossible. Additionally, the crystals needed to power such a massive cannons make them expensive, fragile, and extremely difficult in procuring. Before the fall of Morith, the city of Morith had seven such cannons arranged outside the city's outer walls. Three of them were destroyed in the Antelus Ridge Conflict. Several were looted by the Hetrean Imperial Army. Two remain in the city, both of which are no longer functioning, except for their still charged crystals. The two looted cannons were installed around Hetrea. Common Components Barrel An arcane canon's barrel has four lines with a focusing rune on the inside. The barrel serves as a focusing rod for the spell, channeling the energy to the end of the barrel. Barrels affect the accuracy and the diameter of the barrel provides an an upper limit for the power of the spell that an arcane cannon can use. Cast Chamber The Cast Chamber is were the capacitor is held along with the cast plate. The cast chamber is a runic engraved cylinder. A cast chambers engraving can be extremely complex and can take hours to complete, since all the work is done by hand. Cast Plate The Cast Plate is the main component of a cannon. It contains the core of the spell to be cast. Cast Plates are placed between the barrel and the cast chamber. The back of the plate serves as the focal point of a cannons energy. Capacitor Crystal All cannons except for Domkemmins have a capacitor crystal that stores magical energy in between shots. The type of crystal can vary, but is invariably some form of crystalline gem. Quartz is the most common material used but ruby, emeralds, and even diamonds are used. Capacitors must be carefully cut and engraved in order to be able to store the amount of energy needed to activate the spell. In some more advanced cannons, more than one crystal are used. Sights Sights are typically added to the top of the the barrel and the cast chamber. They allow the user to accurately target a target at a distance. Most larger versions, mostly stationary cannons and military rifles have specialized sights to take into account distance and angles. Stock In order to facilitate aiming and firing for hand held variants, a barrel and cast chamber are fastened into a wooden stock. Stocks can be enchanted by an enchanter. Trigger Triggers come in two forms, a mechanical or a magical trigger. Magical triggers are triggered by a small bit of magical energy. Once a trigger is activated, the capacitor is bridged to the cast plate and the spell is cast. Mechanical triggers move the capacitor forward against the plate, forcing the energy into the plate by direct contact. Both are extremely powerful. Mechanical triggers don't require any knowledge of a magic to use, but are more likely to fail than a normal cannon, which as no moving parts. Category:Estreoth Category:Weapons